Over the years, dentists have had the ability to restore the exposed surfaces of patients'teeth with material which quite accurately duplicates each patient's tooth anatomy so as to present a repair or restoration which visually blends with the rest of the patient's natural teeth. The restorative material is generally a photocurable or hardenable resin or composite material.
The uncured resin or paste material, once selected, is applied to a patient's tooth surface and an appropriate light source is directed at the surface to cure and harden the material in a very short time period.
One of the major drawbacks to such repair resides in the accurate selection of the color or shade of the restorative material. A number of suppliers provide restorative materials in a broad variety of shades for selection by the dentist. Accompanying each restorative material kit is typically a color sample which includes a plurality of plastic pieces each having a shape similar to a human tooth and each having a different shade which is intended to represent the color of each particular material by code or name designation.
In practice, however, the majority, if not all of the associated samples provided by the manufacturers of each restorative material do not accurately reflect the true shade of the material which correlates with the sample provided. Further, in most, if not all cases, the shade samples provided by the manufacturers are fabricated or molded of a plastic material which is not identical in content or in consistency to the restorative material itself.
Furthermore, the shade samples offered by manufacturers are designed to be used for the lifetime of the material system and are subject to repeated use by a dentist. The samples are required to be sanitized between usage, which can be quite burdensome.
In any event, the dentist utilizing the restorative material is at a serious disadvantage when attempting to select a restorative material which identically matches a particular patient's tooth or teeth to be repaired. The dentist must compare the samples provided with the coloration of the patient's teeth and then make the selection accordingly. However, many times there are inconsistencies in the coloration of the samples provided and the actual restorative material. As a result, the finished dental product typically does not identically match the rest of the patient's original teeth.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method whereby a dentist can easily match the shade of the dental restorative material to the patient's teeth. It is further desirable to provide disposable shade verifying devices. It would be beneficial to provide shade tabs that accurately match the shade of a patient's teeth.